Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Phaedra (Seneca)
Summary
Phaedra is a Roman tragedy written by philosopher and dramatist Lucius Annaeus Seneca before 54 A.D. Its 1,280 lines of verse tell the story of Phaedra, wife of King Theseus of Athens and her consuming lust for her stepson Hippolytus. Based on Greek mythology and the tragedy Hippolytus by Euripides, Seneca's Phaedra is one of several artistic explorations of this tragic story. Seneca portrays Phaedra as self-aware and direct in the pursuit of her stepson, while in other treatments of the myth, she is more of a passive victim of fate. This Phaedra takes on the scheming nature and the cynicism often assigned to the nurse character.
When Seneca's plays were first revived during the Renaissance, the work that soon came to be known as Phaedra was titled Hippolytus. It was presented in Latin in Rome in 1486.
The play has influenced drama over the succeeding two millennia, particularly the works of Shakespeare and dramas of 16th- and 17th-century France. Other notable dramatic versions of the Phaedra story that were influenced by Seneca's version include Phèdre by Jean Racine and Phaedra's Love by Sarah Kane. Most recently, an reimagined adaptation of Phaedra by Simon Stone was produced at the National Theatre; the company included Janet McTeer, Assaad Bouab and Mackenzie Davis. Seneca's play continues to be performed today.
Major themes in Phaedra include the laws of nature as interpreted according to stoic philosophy, animal imagery and hunting and the damaging effects of the sexual transgressions of mothers and stepmothers.
Hippolytus
Phaedra
nutrix (nurse)
Chorus
Theseus
nuntius (messenger)
Lines 1–423
Hippolytus, son of King Theseus of Athens, leaves his palace at dawn to go boar-hunting. He prays to the virgin goddess Diana for success in the hunt.
His step-mother Phaedra, wife of Theseus and daughter of King Minos of Crete, soon appears in front of the palace lamenting her fate. Her husband has been gone for years after journeying to capture Persephone from the underworld.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.